Manuel Broseta Pont (13 October 1932 – 15 January 1992) was a Spanish academic and politician. He was a member of the

Senate of Spain The Senate () is the upper house of the , which along with the Congress of Deputies – the lower chamber – comprises the Parliament of the Kingdom of Spain. The Senate meets in the Palace of the Senate in Madrid. The presiding officer of the ...

between 1979 and 1982 and he served as State Secretary for

Autonomous Communities The autonomous communities () are the first-level administrative divisions of Spain, created in accordance with the Spanish Constitution of 1978, with the aim of guaranteeing limited autonomy to the nationalities and regions that make up Spa ...

for the Union of the Democratic Centre (UCD) between 1980 and 1982. He was also a member of the

Spanish Council of State The Council of State (), is the supreme consultative council of the Spanish Government. The current Council of State was established in 1980 according to the article 107 of the Constitution of 1978. The institution of the Council of State, under ...

. Broseta was assassinated by

ETA Eta ( ; uppercase , lowercase ; ''ē̂ta'' or ''ita'' ) is the seventh letter of the Greek alphabet, representing the close front unrounded vowel, . Originally denoting the voiceless glottal fricative, , in most dialects of Ancient Greek, it ...

members on 15 February 1992.

Early life

Manuel Broseta Pont was born in Banyeres de Mariola in the

Province of Alicante Alicante (, , ; ; ; officially: / ) is a province located in eastern Spain, in the southern part of the Valencian Community. It is the second most populated Valencian province, containing the second and third biggest cities in the Valencian Co ...

. He however moved to the city of

Valencia Valencia ( , ), formally València (), is the capital of the Province of Valencia, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, the same name in Spain. It is located on the banks of the Turia (r ...

at an early age and went to school there. His father, a member of the Republican Left was temporarily arrested when Spanish leader

Francisco Franco Francisco Franco Bahamonde (born Francisco Paulino Hermenegildo Teódulo Franco Bahamonde; 4 December 1892 – 20 November 1975) was a Spanish general and dictator who led the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalist forces i ...

visited Valencia. The incident had a lasting impact on Broseta, which made him value freedom and respect for others throughout the rest of his life. In 1955 he obtained his licentiate in Law from the Universidad Literaria de Valencia. He furthered his academic studies at the

Complutense University of Madrid The Complutense University of Madrid (, UCM; ) is a public research university located in Madrid. Founded in Alcalá in 1293 (before relocating to Madrid in 1836), it is one of the oldest operating universities in the world, and one of Spain's ...

, starting in 1956 and graduating in 1959. He was an assistant and later adjunct professor at the same university until 1964, when he became professor of business law at the

University of Valencia The University of Valencia ( ), shortened to UV, is a public research university in Valencia, Spain. It is one of the oldest universities in Spain, and the oldest in the Valencian Community. It is regarded as one of Spain's leading academic i ...

. He contributed to the creation of the Faculty of Economic Sciences at the university. He was dean of the Law faculty between 1970 and 1972. During this time he was prosecuted in the

Tribunal de Orden Público The ''Court of Public Order'' (Spanish: ) was a court created in Francoist Spain to deal with most political crimes. It was instated as the supreme body in the newly created Public Order Jurisdiction, which also comprised an additional court, the P ...

for writing an article, he was however absolved of the charge. He resigned as dean in 1972 after the Spanish Ministry of Education and Science intended to purge the Spanish academic life of three hundred professors and over a thousand students for political reasons, as they rose academically against

Francoist Spain Francoist Spain (), also known as the Francoist dictatorship (), or Nationalist Spain () was the period of Spanish history between 1936 and 1975, when Francisco Franco ruled Spain after the Spanish Civil War with the title . After his death i ...

. In 1973 he was the first signatory of a list requesting a university Chair of Valencian Culture and Language at the University of Valencia.

Political career

After the

1977 Spanish general election A General elections in Spain, general election was held in Spain on Wednesday, 15 June 1977, to elect the members of the Spanish . All 350 seats in the Congress of Deputies were up for election, as well as all 207 seats in the Senate of Spain, S ...

Broseta became an advisor to the President of the Consell of the Valencian Region. Even though Broseta had been politically active he had not joined a party before 1979. He was however seen as close to the

Socialist Party of the Valencian Country The Socialist Party of the Valencian Country (; , PSPV–PSOE) is a Social democracy, social-democratic political party in the Valencian Community, and is a regional branch of the national Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE). The PSPV was orig ...

, and by their support became vice-president of the mixed commission for power transference to the pre-autonomic Valencian Community.Gascó Escudero, 113 Broseta however did not join the Socialist Party, instead becoming member of the Union of the Democratic Centre (UCD) in January 1979. He was a member of the

for the

Province of Valencia Valencia ( , ), officially València (), is a provinces of Spain, province of Spain, in the central part of the autonomous Valencian Community. Of the province's 2.7 million people (2024), almost one-third live in the capital, Valencia, whic ...

between 1 March 1979 and 31 August 1982. In the Senate he served as president of the Commission of Education and Culture for almost two years between 1979 and 1981. At different times he also served in the Commission for Internal Affairs and Justice and the Commission for the Constitution. He also served on the special commission for University teaching problems and the investigatory commission for public order and terrorist acts. In June 1980 Broseta was offered the position of State Secretary for

. Initially unsure whether to accept, he held the position until 1982. Within the Valencian UCD he allied himself with

Fernando Abril Martorell Fernando Abril Martorell (31 August 1936 – 16 February 1998) was a Spanish politician and agricultural engineer. Biography Born in Valencia, Spain, in 1936, he studied Agricultural Engineering and Political Sciences in Madrid, later obta ...

, who served in the

Congress of Deputies The Congress of Deputies () is the lower house of the , Spain's legislative branch, the upper house being the Senate of Spain, Senate. The Congress meets in the Palacio de las Cortes, Madrid, Palace of the Parliament () in Madrid. Congress has ...

and José Luis Manglano de Mas, who served as a member of the municipal council of

. Together the three men supported the Valencian political cause. After the disintegration of the UCD in 1983 Broseta left politics. In September 1982 he had already made plans to leave the UCD as he felt it was no longer his party. He left at the same time as Manglano. As a politician Broseta was a supporter of

anti-Catalanism Anti-Catalan sentiment is the collective name given to various trends in Spain, France and Italy that expresses disdain, discrimination, or hatred for Catalonia, to Catalans, Catalan traditions, Catalan culture, Catalan nationalism, Catalan lang ...

and as a Valencian of

Blaverism Blaverism (, ) is a Spanish nationalist and Valencian regionalist ideology in the Valencian Community (Spain) that emerged with the Spanish transition to democracy characterised by strong anti-Catalanism, born out of its opposition to Joan Fust ...

. He rejected the idea that the Valencian Community belonged to the

Països Catalans The Catalan Countries (, ) refers to the territories where the Catalan language is spoken. They include the Spanish regions of Catalonia, the Balearic Islands, Valencian Community, and parts of Aragon ('' La Franja'') and Murcia ( Carche), as ...

and he was a critic of Catalan leader

Jordi Pujol Jordi Pujol i Soley (, born 9 June 1930) is a retired Catalan politician who was the leader of the party Convergència Democràtica de Catalunya (CDC) from 1974 to 2003, and President of the Generalitat de Catalunya from 1980 to 2003. Early life ...

Later life

After his time in politics Broseta returned to Valencia and focused on his academic life once more. He was awarded a Cross of Honour of the Order of St. Raymond of Peñafort in 1985. In 1987 he was made Elected member of the

. On 26 March 1990 he was made Chevalier (Knight) in the French

Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...

. In 1991 Broseta refused an offer to lead the party list of the Partido Popular (PP) in the municipal elections of Valencia. PP Senator José Miguel Ortí Bordás said that Broseta had also been approached to become the PP candidate for the elections of President of the

Generalitat Valenciana The Generalitat Valenciana is the generic name covering the different self-government institutions under which the Spanish autonomous community of Valencia is politically organized. It consists of seven institutions including the ''Corts Valen ...

in 1995.

Death

On 15 January 1992 at 10:20 Broseta had just finished a class at the Faculty of Law of the University of Valencia and entered the gardens on Avenida de Blasco Ibañez. He was on his way to the Banco de Valencia, where he worked as an advisor, to attend a meeting. He was then approached by a man and woman who ordered a student walking behind Broseta to get down on the ground. Broseta was killed by a single shot to the neck fired from a handgun. The two attackers fled the scene in a Volkswagen Polo which they abandoned at the intersection of Avenida de Aragón and Calle de Amadeo de Saboya, only 500 meters away from the site of the murder. Police attempted a controlled explosion of the car, fearing boobytraps. The car however exploded before they could do so, resulting in one police officer receiving minor injuries. Eyewitnesses reported that the attackers fled in another car and took the highway towards Barcelona. ETA claimed the attack.

Aftermath

The municipality of Valencia as well as the Generalitat Valenciana called for a minute of silence at 10:30 on the day after the incident. The Senate of Spain had earlier held a minute of silence. The municipality of Valencia later erected a column in Broseta's honor. The ''Profesor Manuel Broseta Foundation'' was founded on 16 July 1992, wishing to honor Broseta's memory. The foundation awards a Coexistence Prize every year. ETA commander José Luis Urrusolo Sistiaga, who was convicted to 449 years in prison for 16 murders, including that of Broseta, was temporarily released in 2013. The release was criticized by Pablo Broseta, son of Manuel. José Luis Álvarez Santacristina was sentenced to thirty years' imprisonment for the murder of Broseta. A couple of

members suspected of the crime were arrested in

Puerto Vallarta Puerto Vallarta ( or simply Vallarta) is a Mexican resort city near the Bahía de Banderas on the Pacific coast of the Mexico, Mexican state of Jalisco. Puerto Vallarta is the second largest urban agglomeration in the state after the Guadalajara ...

, Mexico in February 2014, after being fugitives for 22 years. The prosecutor sought a prison sentence of 56 years against the couple. In March 2015 the Spanish Audienca Nacional found them not guilty. In May 2022, ''Facultats'', the Metrovalencia station closest to the university where he had worked was renamed Facultats-Manuela Broseta in his memory.

Works

* ''Manual de derecho mercantil'' (1983)

References

Notes

Sources

* Gascó Escudero, Patricia. (2011)
''UCD-Valencia: Estrategias y grupos de poder político''
Universitat de València. . {{DEFAULTSORT:Broseta, Manuel 1932 births 1992 deaths People from Alcoià Complutense University of Madrid alumni Academic staff of the University of Valencia Union of the Democratic Centre (Spain) politicians Members of the 1st Senate of Spain Government ministers of Spain Assassinated Spanish politicians People killed by ETA (separatist group) Deaths by firearm in Spain Knights of the Legion of Honour European politicians assassinated in the 1990s Politicians assassinated in 1992